Loved the dogs, less so the romance.

Years after he broke up with her on prom night, Matt and Claire meet again at a dog shelter. Now at a loss for what to do after his army career, Matt’s certain of one thing, he still isn’t right for Claire, he wouldn’t make a good husband or father the very things Claire most wants out of life, so he’s determined to train a dog for his beloved niece and then skip town, but the more time he spends with fellow shelter volunteer and sudden neighbor, Claire, the more uncertain his plans to leave become.

It’s not that I didn’t like Matt and Claire together, they have chemistry, it just didn’t seem as if there was a deep enough conflict keeping them apart. Matt repeatedly says he isn’t good enough for Claire yet there weren’t many examples of his unworthy behavior aside from dumping her on prom night, it felt like there wasn’t much substance behind his reasoning. As far as Claire goes, I thought she made it far too easy for Matt. I don’t have an issue with her pining over the same guy forever, but I would have liked to see more resentment from her after such an extensive period of pining and since losing him shattered her for a time, it would have been plausible for Claire to be more reluctant or even downright begrudging at the prospect of taking another chance on Matt, instead Claire spends much of the novel waiting for him with open arms (she even begs him to have sex with her). I longed for more resistance from Claire, to see more of her spine, see her make Matt work to win back her trust.

Far and away the dogs were my favorite aspect of A New Leash On Love, each written with their own unique and ever so lovable personality, they made for dimensional secondary characters, and ultimately I was more emotionally moved by their situations than I was by Matt and Claire’s relationship. ( )